Medford's Salem Street development: arguments for and against

Tuesday

Jan 31, 2017 at 11:07 AMJan 31, 2017 at 11:07 AM

THE ISSUE: A new development, located on Salem Street at the corners of Court and Everett streets, is going through the process of being approved or denied by the city. WHY IT MATTERS: Studies showed there would be no traffic impact, but neighbors are concerned about other aspects of the development. Others are worried that the development is symptomatic of a negative developmental strategy by the city as a whole.

Ethan Hartley ehartley@wickedlocal.com @MirandaWillson5 ‏

A proposed four-story, 21-unit apartment building located on Salem Street in the heart of downtown Medford has caused some significant community stir in recent weeks as the developer, neighborhood residents and city council members have all traded thoughts on the project.

Neighbors and direct abutters dislike the size of the project, which needs variances for the number of stories and the overall size of the building. Those opposed also worry about impacts on the community such as pollution, school crowding (the building would sit about 250 feet away from Roberts Elementary School) and increased traffic congestion.

The developer, Milan Patel of HHC One Salem LLC, argues that the housing development is environmentally-friendly, socially-conscious and would be an economic success story for the neighborhood and the city, infusing a parcel of land with new life that currently houses an abandoned brake shop and vacant lot.

To view a map of the project linked to a 3D video rendering supplied by Patel, click HERE. View other video renderings and animations of the development HERE.

The project is currently stalled, waiting to be reviewed by the Historic Districts Commission on Feb. 13 to assess if the aforementioned garage has any historical value.

Concerned residents will have another chance to express their opinions directly to Patel, as he has scheduled a community outreach meeting at the Medford Firefighter’s Club (340 Salem St.) on Thursday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m.

Those opposed

Opposition to the project resides on two levels: those concerned about the immediate impacts of the project on the neighborhood, and those who view the development as a part of a problematic bigger picture regarding zoning in Medford and the future of housing development within the city.

Jocelyn Mochado, a direct abutter who lives in a home on Court Street, has been outspoken about her concerns as a direct abutter of the proposed development, saying that the building will overshadow her home and cause fumes and noise from constant traffic to negatively impact the daily life of her family.

Other community members, such as Park Street resident Cheryl Rodriguez, expressed concern about the potential overcrowding of schools and added infrastructure costs that will result from the development.

“The developer will cash his check and walk away and leave us hanging on trying to figure out how we’re going to cover the extra infrastructure costs that have suddenly been thrust upon us,” Rodriguez said at the Jan. 24 meeting of the city council.

City council vice president Michael Marks agreed that the impact to the people living near proposed developments should always be the top concern.

“Whatever is being proposed has to fit with the neighborhood itself,” Marks said. “My concern is and always will be what the effect is on the neighborhood and on quality of life.”

Marks also took issue with the number of variances required by the development, stating that variances should only be given to developer with real hardships to overcome in a given parcel.

Other members of the city council spoke out in regards to a bigger picture issue that they take with development in the city, relating the project to large-scale developments such as the recent Locust Street complex.

“I feel like we really appease to anything developers have wanted and I feel like the people deserve better. We need to make sure our neighborhoods are not getting stuffed,” said councilor Breanna Lungo-Koehn. “We want development and we want good developers in Medford but we need to make sure it’s smart.”

The council expressed a desire to take a serious look at the city’s zoning ordinances, which have not been reviewed or altered in decades.

“I think we as a community have to take a look at what direction we want to go in ... high density or smart growth,” said Marks. “We’ve been fortunate in this city to not have the development that we’re seeing in surrounding cities and I think people prefer that. Medford is their home, it’s not an urban sprawl. It’s one of the reasons people move here and stay here.”

Developer responds

Patel, in an interview with The Transcript, responded to the criticism and concerns of the neighbors and expressed his belief that the project would lead to positive results for the neighborhood and the city in general.

Patel said that a traffic study was conducted by Design Consultants, Inc. out of Somerville as part of the site plan review, and showed convincingly that there would be no traffic impact from the development. Another study showed there would be no impact on the city’s water or sewer system.

The development sits on an area that has significant soil contamination due to petroleum buildup incurred during its many years as an auto body shop. Patel said the only reason he is requesting to build over the three-story limit that is mandated by the area’s zoning code is because of that expense.

“We feel we need to do more stories because we have a significant environmental cleanup that is over $500,000 on site,” Patel said. “The only way we can justify economically to do our project with 21 units and four stories is to offset that additional income for the cleanup costs.”

Patel said that his development takes into consideration the concerns and requests of the neighborhood far more than other potential developers would.

“I’m not a 40B developer,” Patel said. “Any other person or entity could easily stack in a lot more density – 40 or 50 units on this site – with a ton more variances and push a non-socially conscious, non-environmentally-friendly product that’s much lower in standards.”

Patel said that a similarly-sized building already exists in the same neighborhood at 179 Park St., which shows that a development like the one he is proposing won’t negatively impact the area.

“That shows precedence,” he said. “It shows that in the community a building has been done that shows a positive impact for the neighborhood.”

Patel also said the building would contribute financially to the city, both through the $100,000 linkage fee required to develop in the parcel, and by separate measures that would come from the profits of the development.

He mentioned, in addition to the development bringing in more than $100,000 in tax revenue to the city, that he would look to provide over $50,000 in capital improvement to the Roberts School, that he would look into setting up an annually-replenishing technology fund for Medford Public Schools and seek to create a scholarship for outgoing seniors at Medford High School.

“These are all positive impacts. These are all benefits that the building is providing,” Patel said. “The negatives, I don’t see the negatives. Maybe unfortunately because I’m the developer, I don’t see it, but I think that so many positives outweigh a vacant property.”